The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church A History Joseph F. Kelly A Michael Glazier Book LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org A Michael Glazier Book published by Liturgical Press Cover design by David Manahan, OSB. Painting in Kiev, Sofia. Photo by Sasha Martynchuk. © Sasha Martynchuk and iStockphoto. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC, and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. © 2009 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previ- ous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Col- legeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kelly, Joseph F. (Joseph Francis), 1945– The ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church : a history / Joseph F. Kelly. p. cm. “A Michael Glazier book”—T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 978-0-8146-5376-0 (pbk.) 1. Councils and synods, Ecumenical—History. I. Title. BX823.K45 2009 262'.5209—dc22 2009009757 To Gerard Anthony Kelly, a good man, a good teacher, and a good father Contents Preface xi Introduction 1 Councils 1 Change and Development 3 History and Theology 5 Mysteries and Heresies 8 Chapter One: The Trinitarian Councils 11 The Earliest Christians 11 Christians in the Greco-Roman World 12 Councils before Nicea 14 Constantine 16 Trinitarian Theology 19 The First Council of Nicea 21 Nicea’s Historical and Ecclesial Significance 24 After the Council 25 The First Council of Constantinople 29 Chapter Two: The Christological Councils 32 The Christian Empire 32 Christology 33 Ecclesiastical Politics 36 The Council of Ephesus 40 The Aftermath of the Council 41 The Council of Chalcedon 44 After the Council 45 Chapter Three: The Byzantine Councils 48 Western Christianity 48 Winning Back the Monophysites 49 Justinian I (527–65) 50 vii viii The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church The Second Council of Constantinople 53 Toward Constantinople III 55 Islam 57 The Third Council of Constantinople 58 From Constantinople III to Nicea II 59 The Second Council of Nicea 63 From Nicea II to Constantinople IV 64 The Fourth Council of Constantinople 67 Chapter Four: The Papal Councils of the Twelfth Century 70 The First Lateran Council 76 The Second Lateran Council 77 Toward Lateran III 78 The Third Lateran Council 81 Chapter Five: The Papal Councils of the Thirteenth Century 85 Toward Lateran IV: Pope Innocent III 85 The Fourth Lateran Council 90 Toward Lyons I 92 The First Council of Lyons 94 After Lyons I 95 Toward Lyons II 95 The Second Council of Lyons 96 Chapter Six: Schism and Conciliarism 99 Toward the Council of Vienne 99 The Council of Vienne, 103 The Avignon Papacy and the Great Western Schism 104 The Council of Constance 108 After the Council 113 The Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence-Rome 114 After the Council, West and East 119 Toward Lateran V 121 The Fifth Lateran Council 123 Chapter Seven: The Council of Trent 126 The Protestant Reformation 126 The Council of Trent, Period 1 133 The Council of Trent, Period 2 137 The Council of Trent, Period 3 142 After Trent 146 Contents ix Chapter Eight: The First Vatican Council 149 From Trent to Vatican I: Enlightenment and Revolution 149 Gregory XVI 154 Pius IX 156 The Immaculate Conception 157 The Syllabus of Errors 159 Vatican I 161 What If? 163 The Council 165 After the Council 172 Chapter Nine: The Second Vatican Council 174 From Vatican I to Vatican II: The Popes 174 Prelude to Vatican II: The Changing World and the Changing Church 179 John XXIII and the Calling of Vatican II 182 The First Session (1962) 185 The Second Session (1963) 191 The Third Session (1964) 194 The Fourth Session (1965) 200 After the Council 203 Epilogue 205 Bibliography 208 Index 213 Preface Like most church historians, I often wish that my fellow believers knew more about the forces and people who shaped the church over the centuries. Part of this problem is that many church historians, unlike theologians and biblical exegetes, have little interest in writing for general audiences. Years ago, my friend Joseph Tylenda, SJ, of the University of Scranton, told me that, after years of focusing on scholarly writings, he also wished to write for an educated but general audience, which he did with some fine books on the Jesuits. I never forgot what Joe said, and it has been my hope to do the same. The ecumenical councils have always interested me, and a study of them seemed a good topic. But a book needs a publisher. I approached Liturgical Press, publisher of several other titles of mine, and the director, Peter Dwyer, and the edito- rial director, Hans Christoffersen, were both interested and supportive, as they have traditionally been for my efforts, and they encouraged me to go ahead with the book. My thanks to them for their confidence. As an undergraduate teacher, I routinely taught church history surveys and so had a broad knowledge of the field, but the councils demanded more specialized knowledge, and so I turned to some friends for help. My thanks to Joseph Lienhard, SJ, of Fordham University, who read over the chapters on the first eight councils and offered valuable advice. For the late medieval councils and Trent, my friend and colleague at John Carroll University, Dr. Paul Murphy, director of JCU’s Institute of Catholic Studies, provided valu- able help on a number of historical points. Joseph Tylenda, who inspired this work some time ago, also read the chapters that Dr. Murphy did along with the one on Vatican I. He provided much valuable help on the history but especially the theology of those councils along with very useful advice. For Vatican II, my thanks to my department colleagues Dr. Joan Nuth and Rev. Jared Wicks, SJ, who drew from his virtually unrivaled knowledge of Vatican II to aid me with the book’s most difficult chapter. All these scholars xi xii The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church helped to make this a better book; the book’s deficiencies are solely the responsibility of the author. John Carroll University has a history of supporting scholarship, a history continued by my department chairperson, Dr. John Spencer, who recom- mended me for reduced loads to pursue my writing, as well as by Dr. Linda Eisenmann, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who approved Dr. Spencer’s recommendation, and by Dr. David LaGuardia, academic vice president at the time I started this work, who officially granted me the re- duced loads. Thanks also to Dr. Lauren Bowen, associate academic vice president and chair of the University Committee on Research and Service, who approved research funds for me to purchase books necessary for the research. My final academic thanks go to Mrs. Elizabeth England, my gradu- ate assistant, who read this book more times than anyone should have to. As always, my sincerest thanks go to my wife Ellen, a loving, thoughtful, and generous spouse, who took time from her own busy schedule and made myriad sacrifices, both large and small, so that I would have time to write. This book is dedicated to my younger brother, Gerard Anthony Kelly, my childhood companion with whom I share so many warm memories. Joseph F. Kelly John Carroll University Introduction This book deals with the twenty-one councils considered ecumenical by the Roman Catholic Church, which would make it of interest to Catholic readers, but hopefully it will attract readers from other churches and tradi- tions as well. The first eight councils were held before the eleventh-century schism between the Western, Latin Christians—ancestors of modern Catho- lics and Protestants—and the Eastern, Greek Christians—ancestors of the Orthodox churches of today. In fact, all eight councils met in Greek-speaking areas and were conducted in Greek. The next ten councils, all Western, Latin-speaking councils, occurred before the Protestant Reformation. To be sure, Protestants do not consider these councils to be in any way authori- tative, but they do form part of the common history of Western Christians in the pre-Reformation period. Even the archetypal Catholic council, Trent, which met intermittently from 1545 to 1563, opened while some Protestant and Catholic leaders were still negotiating to prevent the split in the church from becoming permanent, and Protestant observers attended some sessions at Trent. This book is meant to be ecumenical, but not like a council. Councils What exactly is an ecumenical council? The word “council” refers to a meeting of any group of people with responsibility to deal with issues facing the group, for example, a student council or a parish council. In the Catholic Church the term usually means a meeting of bishops, either on their own or with the pope. Most common are provincial councils or synods, where the bishops of a particular ecclesiastical province get together, usually under the presidency of the metropolitan or senior bishop of the province. These bishops can legislate for the province, providing that their decisions do not contradict those of higher authorities.